This course considers the challenges and opportunities that arise when social justice aspirations meet philanthropic practice. According to the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy in the US, social justice philanthropy has a transformational agenda; its aim is to reform institutions in order to create a more equitable distribution of power, thus eliminating the need for ongoing charity. This tall order is the entry point for this seminar that considers theories of social justice as they pertain to philanthropy in the US and elsewhere, case studies of social justice philanthropy (SJP) that include guest visits with practitioners, and critiques of social justice philanthropy theory and practice. Students will be asked to write three short papers during the course and a final synthetic essay at its completion as a way to enable students to be informed policy scholars or policymaking practitioners.
Course Objectives and Anticipated Learning Outcomes
The objective of this course is to expose students to the practice of social justice philanthropy from two points of view: 1) social justice advocates seeking philanthropic support for their work, and 2) grantmakers investing (or considering investing) resources to support social justice work.
Through readings and seminar discussions, conversations with guest visitors, analytical writing, and presentations, students will work toward the following learning outcomes:
Comprehension: increased fluency in discerning how social justice philanthropy (SJP) differs from other forms of philanthropic practice
Analysis: increased ability to analyze funding priorities and patterns of social justice grantmakers
Evaluation: ability to critically evaluate arguments for philanthropic support of a contemporary social justice issue.
Course Requirements and Assessment Criteria
Required and recommended materials will be made available via DropBox.
Seminar participation 40%: Reading comprehension and analysis; seminar participation
Active participation in seminar discussions of readings and reading responses (20%). Attendance of all seminars is required.
10 weekly reading responses (20%), due by 9am on designated Mondays.
These are short reflections on assigned readings and related activities that are designed to support student comprehension and analysis of course materials. A writing/reflection prompt question will be provided each week to guide students’ development of these reading responses.
Research and analysis 60%: Formative and Summative evaluation
Formative evaluation (30%): 3 short papers that demonstrate development of student’s understanding of course content
Summative evaluation (30%): an end of term analytical paper synthesizing course content.